From tomorrow, the world will be revelling in the 2016 Olympic Games. But as all eyes are on Rio and the fantastic sporting spectacles there, one woman will be completing a very different sort of Olympic challenge - one just as gruelling, demanding and uplifting as ‘the greatest show on Earth’.

Freya Rodger, a 55-year-old marketing executive, set herself the challenge earlier this year: to complete all 41 of the sports women can enter at Rio 2016, by the closing ceremony on August 21.

And if this in itself weren’t demanding enough, Freya will have completed every single one while in remission from cancer. She was diagnosed with non-Hodkins lymphoma in September 2012, just weeks after the London Olympic Games drew to a close.

In the months of aggressive treatment that followed she found herself struggling to walk to the end of her street, or get to the top of the staircase. But she was determined not to be beaten, and - as part of her recovery - started cycling and running. Just one year after her diagnosis, she competed in the 52-mile London Bikeathlon and ran her first 10k race, two years after her treatment ended.

I’m planning on completing the equestrian events on a hobby-horse in a local park

She's now trying her hand at sports ranging from rugby and swimming to gymnastics and judo, to help inspire other women and cancer survivors to become more active.

Freya came up with the idea for her Olympic challenge, which she has dubbed the Freyathlon, while listening to a radio programme during Women’s Sport Week in July last year.

"I started thinking about how important exercise had been to me," she says. "I want to encourage people affected by cancer and women, particularly older women, to move more."

She has already completed 37 of the Olympic disciplines, and will take part in the remaining few before the August closing ceremony: athletics, kayak slalom, kayak sprint and sailing.

For some of the events, such as archery, BMX and gymnastics, she's taken part in coached sessions. She ran her first triathalon at an organised event. For others, including beach volleyball and tennis, she arranged her own and invited friends, colleagues and the local community to join her.

Life lessons in the ring

Wherever possible the activities have been free or low-cost, and local to her in South East London.

The only events she can’t replicate faithfully are the equestrian ones, for which years of skill and experience are required.

"I did go for a riding lesson but under no circumstances were they going to let me go over a jump," Freya laughs. "Instead I’m planning on completing a representation of the equestrian events on a hobby-horse in a local park."

Perhaps surprisingly for somebody in their mid-fifties, Freya says the events she enjoyed the most were weightlifting, archery, gymnastics and BMX. In fact her BMX session brought some valuable life lessons from rather unexpected sources.

"It was just me and a bunch of seven-year-olds and I learned so much from their attitude," she explains. "I was busy asking questions, aware of the risks and wanting to do it right. But they all just went for it."

"Since then I have really tried to imitate their attitude, think less and just do it."

I felt my body had let me down. Now, I am learning to trust it again

Weightlifting was another highlight and gave her an unexpected confidence boost. "As a middle-aged woman carrying more weight than I need and in remission from cancer, I know I’m not an elite athlete and never will be," Freya says.

"It’s wonderful to find there are some sports like weightlifting that I am quite suited to, because of my particular shape and physical ability."

Trying sports like archery and table tennis also made her think more about activity for people in her previous predicament. During her archery lesson she was reminded of her own physical weakness in the days following her diagnosis and treatment. "I could really see how it could work for somebody who wasn’t feeling well, or recovering from a long-term illness."

However other sports have proved exceptionally challenging and Freya admits to feeling deep relief that the wrestling and rugby elements of the challenge are behind her.

"These are really physically dynamic, and while I loved taking part, at the age I am now my body can’t really take such intensity," she says candidly. "If I had discovered rugby when I was in my 20s or 30s I would have probably really enjoyed it. But these days I would find it really difficult to bounce back from the tackles."

Freya says BMX biking with kids taught her to let go and 'just do it'

Before cancer came into her life, Freya says she was not sporty. She didn’t enjoy exercising at school, stopped as soon as she left. Then came a series of lapsed gym memberships. "It was the cancer that prompted me to become more active," she says. "Realising how weak and debilitated I was."

After moving into remission, Freya made building up her health and fitness a priority. She began by walking, then moved on to cycling when she felt stronger, taking spin classes to build her confidence.

She says the best thing about trying out so many different sports for Freyathlon is the change in her attitude to herself. "Going through cancer and treatment made me feel quite detached from my body," she says. "I felt it had let me down. Now, I am learning to trust it again.

"Doing this has given me the confidence to believe that if I want to do something my body will help me."

Freya is also raising money for Macmillan and Bloodwise through her challenge. Her journey will conclude in August as Rio draws to a close, when she and her partner Trace will compete in the AJ Walter London Triathlon.

"I had never swum a stroke of front crawl until January so the swim is the element I’m focusing on," she says.

"Success for me, will just be getting to the end. I will feel such a huge relief - and I've had a lot of fun on the way."